Testimony: Woman killed grandfather after catching him peeping on her girlfriend

Wednesday

Apr 30, 2014 at 7:44 PMApr 30, 2014 at 7:47 PM

Manuel Gamiz Jr.

(MCT) April 29--Chene A. Mejias said she caught her grandfather "pleasuring himself" last month while peeping on her girlfriend in the bathroom of their south Allentown apartment and stabbed him to death, an Allentown detective testified Tuesday.

Mejias, 21, said she continued stabbing her grandfather, 65-year-old Wilson A. Mejias, until he wasn't moving anymore, purposely aiming for his neck because "she knew he would die," Allentown Detective Stephen Milkovits testified. Mejias fled to New York, where she turned herself in to police the next day, police said.

Milkovits was the only witness to testify during Tuesday's preliminary hearing and District Judge Donna Butler found enough evidence existed to send a homicide charge against Mejias to Lehigh County Court.Mejias told Milkovits she had been walking her dog and returned home around 1 a.m. March 10 when she caught her grandfather standing outside the bathroom "pleasuring himself" while her girlfriend Tiffany Benitez was inside, the detective said.

All three lived in a first-floor apartment in the 800 block of South 12th Street, and Mejias told Milkovits her grandfather had removed the locks from the bathroom door so he could accidentally walk into the bathroom while either she or Benitez were inside.

Chene Mejias said her grandfather would also make comments about her girlfriend, he said."She didn't find him appropriate," Milkovits said.

New York police contacted Allentown police around 2:30 a.m. March 11 to let them know that Mejias walked into a precinct in the Bronx and admitted killing her grandfather, police said.

Milkovits said police found Wilson Mejias in one of the bedrooms, partially covered in blankets and towels and his head covered with a black plastic bag. An autopsy revealed several stab wounds, including a large cut to the right side of his neck, he said.

Milkovits said he and a Lehigh County homicide detective traveled to New York, where Chene Mejias calmly told them what she had done.

Mejias told Milkovits she did not know how many times she stabbed her grandfather. Benitez tried to stop the attack by pulling Mejias away and yelling for her to stop, Milkovits testified.

"Tiffany couldn't stop her," Milkovits testified.

After her grandfather was dead, Mejias handcuffed him and tied a bungee cord around his legs, so she could drag him into the bedroom, Milkovits testified. Mejias then turned on Benitez, telling her she had to clean up the bloody scene or she would be next, he testified.

The couple tried to clean up the scene, but fled to the girlfriend's mother's apartment in the Bronx, the detective testified. Benitez's mother told Milkovits that her daughter was shaking and crying uncontrollably and Mejias admitted she killed her grandfather, the detective said.